The Nivea Company, which was established in 2007 and is headquartered in Mumbai, produces a wide range of skincare and personal care products. These include lotions, deodorants, creams, soaps, and shaving items.
Established in 1882 by pharmacist Carl Paul Beiersdorf, Nivea is currently owned by German company Beiersdorf. The brand has a noteworthy track record of pioneering advancements. In the year 1900, Nivea introduced an exceptional water-in-oil emulsion as a skin cream, marking it as the first enduring emulsion of its type during that era. This remarkable accomplishment served as the foundation for Nivea’s subsequent creation and triumph.
Nivea provides a wide range of products in various categories, including:
- Bath care.
- Body care.
- Deodorants.
- Face care.
- Lip care.
- Men’s care.
- Nivea cream.
- Nivea soft.
- Sun care.
Nivea offers a diverse selection of products for people of different ages and genders. Their range of sun care products is ideal for parents who want to protect their children from sunburn. Additionally, Nivea provides lip, face, and body care items that are suitable for both men and women. Moreover, they have a dedicated section specifically catering to the grooming needs of men, offering shaving cream, facial wash, and shower gel.
Nivea targets both adult males and females in their market, expanding the range of situations where consumers may seek out their products. They offer a diverse product line including bathing, body care, lip care, facial care, hygiene, and sun protection that addresses common concerns for both genders.
While Nivea does not have a specific target audience, they do have separate divisions catering to specific genders and age groups. One such division is ‘NIVEA VISAGE,’ which focuses on girls aged 13-19 while leveraging the strong reputation of the Nivea brand.
BIC, a French company founded by Baron Marcel Bich in 1945 and based in Clichy, is renowned for manufacturing various disposable consumer products. These include ballpoint pens, shaving supplies, magnets, and lighters.
BIC offers a wide range of disposable products, which include:
- pens.
- pencils.
- highlighters.
- lighters.
- lighter cases.
- shavers.
BIC has aimed their products primarily at men, but they have included women’s shavers in order to attract female customers and expand their target market.
BIC’s recent attempt to attract female consumers involved introducing a new line of ‘pens for her’. However, this effort to expand their customer base backfired as it faced widespread criticism from its intended audience.
BIC has always aimed to serve low-income families who need affordable and dependable products. Most of their offerings are priced in the lower range. Moreover, BIC also caters to males, as a significant portion of their product line is targeted towards them.
Market segmentation
Market segmentation is when a large group of people are divided based on specific characteristics or information about them, such as their needs, wants, gender, age, interests, and hobbies. This grouping helps businesses identify the target market for their new products or methods. It is important for businesses to ensure that these individuals have a positive reaction to their marketing actions.
Nivea market segmentation
Nivea conducted research to understand the public’s attitudes towards sun lotion. They categorized the attitudes into five groups with similar opinions on sun care. This research involved a nationally representative sample who were asked to complete questionnaires. The five groups are as follows:
- Concerned consumers: These are the people that are concious of the harmful effects of the suns rays. This group of people are likely to purchase sun lotions which contain high sun protection factors.
- Sun avoiders: This group of people generally avoid sunbathing and the use of sun protection as they feel as though it is a chore. People from this segment are unlikely to purchase sun lotion; although through extensive research, they may consider purchasing a product which is easy to apply such as sprays.
- Careful sun lovers: These people love the sunshine and prefer to use a brand which is trustworthy and has suitable protection factors. These sun lovers have a good knowledge of sun care products and will use this to purchase products which are perfectly suited for their skin.
- Careless tanners: This group of people enjoy sunbathing and tanning but do not protect against the sun’s harmful rays. The main priority of this group is tanning whereas protection is not a concern. Since this group of people do not have any concerns about the long-term damage that their skin will face they will most likely purchase a low SPF product, if any at all.
- Naive beauty concious: These people like to have a good tan and they also recognise that protction from the sun is important but they do not acknowledge the use of ‘Sun Protection Factors’ (SPF). These consumers may be interested in the main features of a sun protection product and will be more likely to purchase an added value offering such as a mousse.
Using these findings, NIVEA has devised a fresh brand strategy to attract individuals in segments that are unlikely to buy a NIVEA product or find it personally beneficial.
BIC marget segmentation
BIC has developed its own methodology for segmenting consumers and analyzing their behaviors and preferences in the stationery product market. Through research, BIC has identified three distinct groups of consumers who have different purchasing patterns when it comes to writing instruments.
- Best Value for money: People which fall into this category are generally offices and households which frequently require writing instruments and have one in virtually every room. Since these pens are generally allowed to be used by anyone there will not be a great issue if one is misplaced. Households which purchase these instruments tend to seek pens which are lower in price but regularly make new purchases when it is required.
- Seeking specific benefits: This segment generally concerns customers which seek out a more personalised item which they would concider to be their own pen. This pen would generally be kept in a private place which belongs to the owner, this person also may be reluctant to borrow this item to anyone else. Research stated that the key features that are looked for by the consumers in a pen is a comfortable hold and the ability to produce smooth handwriting which reflects the individual.
- Impulse buy: These kind of purchases are unplanned and will generally be achieved by the use of attractive and innovative designs. This generally attracts people in the segment as they are buying for pleasure rather than specifically requiring the item.
Following the research results, BIC developed a new range of products that cater to the preferences and desires of consumers. BIC’s objective is to:
- Provide reliable, high value for money products which are aimed towards regular household purchasers.
- Provide premium, high quality products for the consumer which wants or needs ‘something special’.
- Provide attractive and inciteful products which sometimes have a short life cycle.
